Background

According to DSM-III-R V-code conditions refer to marital relationships, family circumstances, interpersonal relationships, or stressful life events that are not attributable to a mental disorder but that are the focus of treatment.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence and patient and treatment characteristics of adult psychiatric out-patients diagnosed with V-code conditions.

Methods

The records of all 5660 consecutive admissions to a psychiatric out-patient clinic over a 12-year period were studied retrospectively.

On the basis of both primary and secondary DSM-III-R diagnoses on Axis I, two subgroups of patients were compared : (I) patients with V-code conditions ; and (2) patients with mental disorders.

Results

Fourteen per cent of the patients had a V-code condition and no mental disorder, while the remaining patients were diagnosed with mental disorder (with or without an additional V-code condition).

Comparisons of sociodemographic and clinical severity characteristics of the two groups indicated that patients with V-code conditions tended to have a higher socio-economic status and to present with less severe problems as assessed both by the primary therapist and the Symptom-Checklist-90.

With respect to service use and treatment outcome variables, it appeared that V-code patients tended to be more frequently treated by couple/family therapy and to receive a slightly lower number of treatment sessions.